OC Mom of 2 amazing kids & 2 furbabies! Inspired to keep positive, cook, travel, be adventurous & have fun doing it all.
I love to keep up with and share all activities, Autism friendly, educational and social things to do in OC & beyond. So let's get OnTheGo !

Sunday, November 8, 2015

Celebrate Giving Thanks with Pretend City this November

November is always a special month. There are so many reasons for us to be grateful for our blessings. The time to enjoy family and give thanks to those around us that help us in one way or another all year long.

Details: Is your child using a binky? Come join us, as we read Bye-Bye Binky! Through this story your child will learn that as they grow up, saying Bye-Bye Binky is not so hard after all! This is your chance for your child to surrender their pacifier to the Tooth Fairy – she’ll be on hand throughout the day for a meet-and-greet opportunity.

Sensational Story Time: Is your child using a binky? Come join us, as we read Bye-Bye Binky! Through this story your child will learn that as they grow up, saying Bye-Bye Binky is not so hard after all!

Details: Laura Tovar taught music for many years in the public schools and wrote many songs and jingles for children. Laura has developed a catalog of “teaching tunes” with fun melodies that she will be sharing with us. The lyrics are catchy and are perfect for teachers and parents to read aloud with young children. Wonderful illustrations have made her songs really come alive!

Following each reading will be an engaging art activity for children to participate in led by Laura Tovar.

Laura’s books will be available for purchase in our bookstore and she will be signing books before and after the planned art activities.

Veterans Day is an opportunity to honor and thank those who have served or are serving in the military. Today Pretend City will take the time to teach children the significance of the holiday through simple and age-appropriate activities that will show respect and appreciation to our veterans.

Smart Art: Celebrate this special day with a remembrance activity that you can take home to give to a special veteran in your life or to serve as a keepsake.

Sensational Story Time: Join us for a heartwarming story time that will teach your children about our nation’s veterans and why we honor them on this special day.

RSVP: Not required

Fee: Included with admission

Event Link: http://pretendcity.org/event/celebrate-veterans-day/

Friday, November 13: Celebrate World Kindness Day

Time: Activities throughout the day

Specifically for: Children of all ages; Grown-ups

Smart Art: Recognize kind acts and gestures with your child as you share with one another what they are. Record those memories onto a Heart Prints to keep with you as a reminder of the lasting impression those gestures leave on your heart.

Sensational Story Time: During the reading of Chrysanthemum, your child will be engaging in a wrinkle heart activity that will help your child understand empathy and how kindness can help mend a heart.

Let’s Move: This activity will focus on teamwork, solving problem, and communication. Let’s link together and hula hoop our way out of this situation!

Smart Art: Help to build our recycle city in the art studio. All day we will be working with recycled materials. What will you transform paper rolls, Popsicle sticks and cotton balls into?

Sensational Story Time: Compost Stew will introduce children to the idea of composting. They will work on science skills as they sort items to create their own composting bin and math skills as they put the composting steps in order

Symbol in a Second: Don’t throw that away, will help your child see objects in different ways. All we have to do is use our imagination! Continue the fun and imagination with our ultimate recycling machine to build to your hearts content. At the end create an earth badge as your pledge to help keep our world clean.

Join us from 11:00-Noon for some Healthy Holiday activities with Dr. Patricia and her team from the organization Serving Kids Hope. Dr. Patricia will be leading a parent discussion group about how to encourage healthy eating habits in young children. She will also be giving parents tips for how to deal with picky eaters, how to get your child to sleep, and the importance of communication in the home. She will end the discussion with a guided visualization which she says are very beneficial for helping your child to fall asleep easily. Parents that purchase Dr. Patricia’s Book Fit Kids Revolution from our bookstore on this day will be entered into an opportunity drawing to win a free visit and consultation with Dr. Patricia. Or a Family 4 pack to Pretend City.Dr. Patricia will be signing books and answering questions immediately following her discussion just outside the Pretend City Entrance Gate.

While the Parents are enjoying Dr. Patricia’s presentation; children 2 years and up can join her team in the adjacent community room for two fun and engaging activities. Children will read the book Stone Soup and make some healthy soup of their own to try. Then they will participate in a Gingerbread Picasso activity where they will be decorating their very own gingerbread figurines to take home and hang on the tree.

Pre-Registration is required for this event to ensure that enough materials are provided for each child and parent in attendance. The 1st 50 that register will be entered to win the book Fit Kids Revolution by Jon Gabriel & Patricia A. Ronald Riba, MD.

Sure, Thanksgiving is known for the pilgrims, history and turkey. But most importantly, Thanksgiving is for giving thanks; it's a holiday all about everything that we are thankful for. Today let’s celebrate family, friends, and the holiday that brings everyone together through these fun activities:

· Sensational Story Time - Gobble gobble up these books for a Thanksgiving treat! From hilarious turkeys to holiday history your children will learn and engage.

· Listen & Learn – Join us to Do The Turkey Pokey and learn about the farm in these fun listen and learn music and movement times.

· Smart Art – Thankfulness is something which is an important expression and feeling for children to understand. Help teach them what it means to be thankful by adding and decorating a leaf for our Thankful Tree.

3:30 p.m. Sensational Story Time in Orange Plaza -Thanks for Thanksgiving

Pretend City will be a great place to get away from all the Black Friday Madness. We will be playing with our Thanksgiving leftovers in the Real Café, Dancing and Singing to Turkey Songs in the City Park, and reading books about thankfulness in the Orange Plaza.

Sensational Story Time: Join us in the Orange Plaza for a reading of Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson & Jane Chapman at 11:00 a.m. followed by an art activity where you child will be able to make their own quilt square. We will then be reading Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes at 3:30pm and talking about all the things that we are thankful for. Children will be able to make a Thank You card in our post office following the book reading.

Smart Art Spud Activity: Come and Play with our Mashed potato Sensory Bin in the Real Café and make your own Mr. Potato Head using Thanksgiving leftovers. We will talk about different emotions when creating our Mr. Potato Head characters by asking questions such as “do you want your character to be happy, sad, or mad?” And “What shapes create a mouth, eyes, noses?”

Music & Movement: Join us in the Pretend City Park for Dancing and Singing to the Turkey Hokey Pokey!